What happened afterward was of little concern to Karl.
He had already provided the lifespan essence.
Whether those families could protect it or not was entirely their own problem.
However, the conflict that followed was far more intense than most people expected.
On the road to the airport, armed helicopters appeared in the sky, and heavily armed convoys began clashing with one another.
Various factions had mobilized weapons and mercenaries in an attempt to seize those two hundred and fifty years of lifespan.
But they had severely underestimated the power of the two financial families involved.
Both families quickly used their influence to mobilize local military forces.
Every attack launched by rival tycoons or mercenary groups was crushed.
Most of the attackers died before they could even approach the transport convoy.
Eventually, the plane carrying the lifespan essence successfully reached the airport.
Military vehicles surrounded the aircraft as it prepared for takeoff.
Even after the aircraft left the runway, it remained under fighter jet escort.
Once the plane returned to its home nation's airspace, another squadron of fighter jets joined the escort formation.
The entire operation had cost the families tens of billions of dollars in political favors, military support, and security expenditures.
Naturally, such protection did not come without conditions.
Both families were forced to hand over small samples of the lifespan essence to their respective governments for research.
Otherwise, the military would never have deployed so many fighter jets to escort a private aircraft.
By the time the essence reached the families' headquarters, the usable lifespan remaining had already decreased significantly.
One family retained roughly fifty years of lifespan essence, while the other retained somewhere between fifty and one hundred years.
Neither family could consume it directly.
They needed to divide the essence among multiple stakeholders:
Their own governments
Scientific research institutions
Internal corporate laboratories
Even though these families possessed enormous influence—sometimes even controlling private military forces—they still could not risk provoking international conflict.
If open warfare erupted between nations, the global search for ancient artifacts would be disrupted entirely.
And that search had already become far more valuable than any single lifespan sample.
Therefore, sacrificing a portion of the essence was considered an acceptable price.
Besides, the internal distribution of the lifespan essence among family members had not yet been finalized.
Meanwhile, Karl had been completely focused on studying the Mind Stone.
With the assistance of Dark Phoenix, the process became far more efficient.
Using her powerful psychic abilities, she guided Karl's consciousness into the Mind Stone itself, allowing him to explore its mental energy directly.
Within just a single day, Karl's psychic strength increased dramatically.
Afterward, Karl and Dark Phoenix began reconstructing their mental defense network.
This time, the defenses were built far stronger than before.
Using the amplification of the Mind Stone, they quietly reinforced the mental barriers of everyone connected to Karl.
Among those protected were:
May
Raven
Gwen
Helen Cho
Wanda
Pietro
Peter
Yelena
George Stacy
Helen Stacy
They also strengthened the mental defenses of Tony Stark, Inson, and the other researchers working with Karl.
Through the Mind Stone's psychic link, the entire process was completed silently.
No one even realized their minds had been reinforced.
Only after finishing this work did Karl finally put the Mind Stone away.
Not far away, Yan was still studying the Divine Tablet.
Her Angel Eye flickered continuously as streams of data passed through her vision.
She was attempting to analyze and simulate the structure of the divine artifact.
Meanwhile, an unexpected problem had begun spreading across the world.
News that Karl could grant lifespan had somehow leaked.
The revelation caused an enormous global uproar.
Some businessmen, blinded by greed, quickly organized a media campaign.
They publicly demanded that Karl reveal the source of his life-extending ability.
Some even claimed that such power belonged to all of humanity.
They attempted to put Karl on a so-called public trial, insisting that he share his secret.
The governments of various countries remained silent.
None of them issued any official statements.
Major financial conglomerates also chose to quietly observe the situation.
However, many ordinary citizens—unaware of the true power involved—were swept up in the protests.
A massive crowd eventually gathered not far from Karl's estate.
Police forces and government agencies formed barricades to prevent the protesters from approaching the manor itself.
If the crowd reached Karl's gates and provoked him directly, the consequences would likely be catastrophic.
At first, Karl ignored the situation entirely.
But as the protests became more aggressive, Tony and several others urged him to intervene.
The gathering near his estate continued growing larger.
Finally, Karl decided to deal with the situation personally.
Whoosh!
When the familiar golden constellation symbol appeared in the sky above New York, countless citizens immediately raised their phones to record it.
Some bystanders looked toward the protesters and sneered.
What was the point of protesting someone that even national governments feared?
Moments later, Karl appeared above Manhattan, wearing his Sagittarius Gold Cloth.
His white cape fluttered behind him in the wind.
His voice echoed across the sky.
"Any ancient artifacts or objects connected to mythology may be brought to my manor for appraisal."
"If they have value, you will receive lifespan essence in exchange."
Then his tone suddenly turned cold.
"Anyone who spreads malicious rumors or attempts to incite chaos…"
"Will die."
Suddenly—
Two crimson beams shot out from Karl's eyes.
The heat vision pierced directly through a nearby office building.
Inside that building, a group of wealthy businessmen had been coordinating the media campaign against him.
They had been discussing how much wealth they could obtain once Karl was forced to reveal his methods.
Before they could even finish speaking—
The red beams cut through the walls and their bodies.
Each of them died instantly, their faces frozen in disbelief.
Most of them were extremely wealthy figures within New York.
Their combined assets exceeded ten billion dollars.
Accustomed to using money and influence to control everything around them, they believed they could pressure Karl the same way.
But they had forgotten one crucial fact.
Karl was a man who had fought Captain Marvel in space.
And they had tried to threaten him with public opinion.
BOOM!
After the beams cut through its structure, the office building began collapsing.
No one nearby was harmed.
Everyone inside the building had already died.
Karl hovered silently in the air, watching the destruction below.
Did they really believe he wouldn't kill anyone?
After everything was finished, Karl glanced toward the protest crowd.
The entire gathering had already scattered.
He had never cared about their protests.
After all—
Karl had never considered himself a superhero.
He had no obligation to obey public morality or political pressure.
After the incident, online opinion briefly turned against him.
Many people criticized Karl, claiming he was unworthy of the title "superhero."
However, Karl didn't care in the slightest.
Soon afterward, the major financial conglomerates began manipulating public opinion behind the scenes.
Negative discussions about Karl quickly disappeared from the internet.
More and more people began searching the world for ancient artifacts.
If someone could find even a single valuable relic, they could exchange it with Karl for lifespan.
Even if they didn't use the lifespan themselves, they could sell it for unimaginable wealth.
As a result, countless people began exploring places tied to myths and legends.
Ancient ruins, lost temples, and forgotten deserts suddenly became destinations for treasure hunters.
Meanwhile—
A small expedition team in Egypt had already begun moving.
Using their own historical research and ancient records, they had discovered clues about the locations of two legendary texts:
The Sun Bible
and
The Dark Bible
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